The rise of China's LED lighting industry has been supported by the government. Despite the fact that many international lighting firms have been promoting the Zhaga Consortium to unify LED lighting standards, China may become an important player in determining the LED lighting standards as its industry expands.
The rapid growth of LED lighting market has not lead to a unification of standards. The market has been concerned with this problem as it may become an obstacle in complete replacement of traditional lighting. Lead by international firms such as Philips and Osram, the Zhaga Consortium began recruiting members in the beginning of 2010 to avoid market distributions of incompatible light engine products and to build a standardized interface for LED light sources. The Consortium recruited 196 international members such as Japan-based Toshiba, US-based UL and Cree, And South Korea-based LG and Samsung. Taiwan-based Epistar, Everlight and Delta also have membership in the Zhaga Consortium.
The Zhaga Consortium has been efficient in setting standards for LED lighting. In March-April 2012, the Consortium completed Book 4 (for streetlight engine) and Book 7 (for office LLE with separate ECG) that cover LED embedded light, spot light, indoor lighting and street light engines. Although the standards have not been forced upon the industry, the business model of the lighting supply chain (integrating various components into one product) has been changed.
China's government views the LED lighting industry as one of the important industries that requires full support from the country. The government has been providing a large amount of financial capital to support domestic firms and hoping to take the lead in Asia market by setting its own standards.
With a population 1.3 billion of population, once the LED industry grows to maturity, China can form alliances with Russia and India to compete with LED industries in other countries. Industry sources believe China's version of LED lighting standards will take a rudimentary form by end of 2012. Nevertheless, Zhaga Consortium has been way ahead in setting standards.
If this is to come about, choosing between different LED lighting standards will test Taiwan-based firms' cost control skills and production advantages in the future.
International firms aim to unify LED lighting standards
